


I Imagined Him Differently

by luceskywalker



Category: Free!, Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, M/M, Makoto as Mako Mori, SouMako Week, Sousuke as Raleigh Becket, a small preview of a bigger AU that may come later, sm15day2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 01:36:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4984891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luceskywalker/pseuds/luceskywalker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto and Sousuke spar to determine whether or not they are Drift compatible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Imagined Him Differently

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not the first person to write a Free!/Pacific Rim crossover, but none of the others seem to be Soumako ones, so that's something.
> 
> This is just a really rough concept fic I threw together for this week, so I haven’t fully plotted out where everyone fits into the AU yet. I chose this scene because it really only involves Mako, Beckett and Pentecost, so I didn't have to fit anyone except Makoto and Sousuke into it. (One of my main problems at the moment is that I want Russell and Rin to fill the roles of Herc and Chuck Hansen (because Australia!) but then that would put Rin and Sousuke at odds. Also I totally want their Jaeger to be called Future Fish but that's not very badass. Idk. I’ll figure it out.)
> 
> This is technically pre-slash, so I hope that still counts. Anyway, yay for my first Soumako Week! :D

As Sousuke won against his fourth potential Drift partner, he briefly wondered whether there was anyone who would be compatible with him after all. None of them even came close to matching him in the fight, and he was the one with a ruined shoulder. He knew it wasn’t their fault that they didn’t have the experience he did, but he was a little disappointed that these were the best candidates they had for him. Beating these guys was like child’s play, regardless of the fact that he hadn’t properly trained in months. How the hell was he supposed to be able to pilot a Jaeger with someone who couldn’t even hold their own against a washed-out ex-Ranger with a war wound?

“Five points to zero,” Makoto called. Sousuke glanced over at him and noticed that he looked less than impressed with the results. Before the next opponent could step onto the mat, Sousuke went over to the edge of the makeshift ring, stopping in front of the other man.

“You look disappointed. Are they not living up to your standards? They’re your candidates.”

Makoto looked up from his clipboard and Sousuke had to stop himself from falling into the impossibly clear green of his eyes. He felt himself slipping when Makoto’s voice pulled him back from the edge. “It is not them I’m disappointed in, Yamazaki-san. It’s you.”

_…Interesting._

“Me?”

“Yes. You could have defeated all of your opponents two moves earlier. You’re being lazy, doing the least you have to in order to win.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if you know so much about me and how I fight, why don’t you get in the ring with me?”

Sousuke wasn’t sure what response he expected, but he didn’t expect Mako’s eyes to widen and for him to look hopefully at Stacker Pentecost, like a puppy seeing his owner approach with a leash after a week of being house-bound.

Pentecost immediately shook his head. “We’ll stick to the list we have. Only candidates with Drift compatibility-“

“ _I_ have compatibility,” Mako interrupted in Japanese. “My skills are well within the parameters that would enable me to Drift with Yamazaki-san.”

Sousuke could see that Mako wanted to be allowed in the ring, badly. But for some reason Pentecost was holding him back. After four failed candidates and a fifth that would surely fail as well, Sousuke really wanted to see what Makoto was like in the ring. They hadn’t spent much time together, but Sousuke could feel a spark between them that he hadn’t felt with anyone in a long time, and Makoto clearly _wanted_ to find out if they were Drift compatible. For all any of them knew, it could be a match made in heaven.

“Are you afraid that your brightest pupil is no match for me, Marshal?” Sousuke took a step closer to Makoto and raised his eyebrows at Pentecost, goading him into accepting the challenge.

Pentecost glanced between the two of them, sighed, and relented, gesturing Mako into the ring.

Sousuke bit back a grin and returned to his position on the mat, and waited for Mako to get ready.

“I’m not going to go easy on you,” he warned.

“Good,” replied Makoto. “I don’t need you to.”

The first move was his, and Sousuke parried it with ease. Lulled into a false sense of security, and despite his warning, he relaxed, anticipating another easy win.

His anticipations were shattered when the end of Mako’s hanbō hit him in the ribs. Sousuke regrouped, and managed to get a point in retaliation by tapping Mako’s shoulder, and a further point by tapping it again when Mako’s attention momentarily wandered to check Pentecost’s reaction.

“Two-one,” Sousuke reminded when Makoto turned back to him, green eyes fiery. Sousuke felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a smile that was half gloating, half genuine enjoyment.

Makoto gripped his hanbō tighter and smiled back, the expression a challenge in itself. Sousuke parried his next shot with ease, and the one after, and was just about to exploit an opening in Mako’s defence when he found himself on his arse on the mat. Mako was not the only one with holes in his defence, it seemed.

“Two-all,” Makoto announced sweetly.

Sousuke grinned and got up. He could finally feel the thrill of the fight coursing through his veins. The next point was the decider, and it was longer in coming than the others. Sousuke and Makoto chased each other across the mat, attack and parry, strike and miss, advance and retreat, back and forth, until it was less like a fight and more like a dialogue between their minds as well as their bodies.

 _This is it,_ thought Sousuke. _This is Drift compatibility._

They were moving fast, almost too fast for anyone outside of the ring to tell which move came from who.  Neither of them we able to land any more easy hits, both of them so focused that it was nearly as if they were reading each other’s mind.

And then Sousuke felt it; a missed opportunity, a split-second hesitation that was going to cost him a fifth victory. Sousuke watched Mako’s eyes widen as he saw it too, and he instantly took advantage. The other man’s face was all Sousuke could see as he felt himself falling backwards, and suddenly he was on his back on the mat with Makoto straddling him, breathing hard from the exertion and grinning. Despite his defeat, Sousuke grinned back at him. It didn’t matter what Pentecost thought now. Even an idiot who didn’t know what the Drift was could see that they had an undeniable connection.

Makoto stood, and offered a hand to Sousuke, who took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

“Three-two,” Sousuke admitted. Mako nodded, and after another second of looking at each other they turned as one to Pentecost. The Marshal’s face was completely closed.

“Well?” Sousuke asked.

“I will review the data and make a decision. Meet me in the Shatterdome in one hour to find out who your co-pilot is.”

Without another word he turned and left the Kwoon, and the rest of the crowd dissipated as well. Makoto shrugged when Sousuke looked at him, and nodded goodbye. Sousuke stood in the centre of the mat as Makoto gathered his things and followed the last of the spectators out.

The door swung shut behind him and Sousuke felt a strange pang in his chest at Makoto’s sudden absence.

 _Interesting_ , he thought to himself again.

Maybe, just maybe, the Drift wasn’t the only way they were compatible.


End file.
